The present disclosure relates to a medical apparatus, a therapy apparatus, a method of estimating an optical probe, and a calibration method used, for example, for a therapy, in which a photodynamic therapy is employed, and to monitor pharmaceutical concentration.
Basic examinations of medical laser apparatuses were started in the 1960s. Subsequently, laser-therapy apparatuses using a CO2 laser, an ND:YAG laser, an Ar ion laser, a ruby laser, and the like were developed and were widely used in the 1970s. An apparatus having a semiconductor laser as a light source is being developed as a next-generation apparatus. A semiconductor laser is capable of being downsized, is easily maintained, and is easily managed. As the laser technology is developed and as the pharmaceutical studies are developed, Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT) is attracting attention in recent years. In Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT), a fluorescence pharmaceutical, which is laser-light-sensitive, is accumulated in a certain cell. After that, the cell is irradiated with the laser light, and the inside of the cell is broken. PDT is developed mainly in the field of pulmonary cancer and brain tumor. Laser apparatuses such as an excimer dye laser (Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) and a laser apparatus for PDT (Panasonic Corporation) are widely used.
If a laser-therapy apparatus accurately determines the amount of emitted light output during a therapy, the following risks may be avoided. That is, a risk of giving needless irradiation energy to a diseased site, and a risk of not obtaining a therapeutic effect because of lack of irradiation energy, may be avoided. In PDT, a risk of administering excessive fluorescence pharmaceutical may also be avoided. To accurately determine the amount of emitted light output during a therapy is one of the important technologies to provide a safer and more accurate therapy.
Meanwhile, in a PDT laser-therapy apparatus, a light-emitting portion (optical probe) contacts a living body. Because of this, an optical probe is exchanged for each procedure, normally. In most cases, an optical probe has an internal optical fiber, and the optical fiber transmits light. The conductivity greatly depends on individual differences of probes.
In view of this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-350933 describes a technology in which individual information is input in an optical probe, and in which a light power is calibrated based on the individual information when the optical probe is connected. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-10232 discloses a technology in which a light power is calibrated by using a product individual identification. However, in those technologies, information on an optical probe is not one immediately before use and may not include change in property because of sterilization, transport, and installation processes.